Small Business IT Support: How to Keep Your Business Connected?
It’s often said that small businesses lack the money and resources available to big businesses. But this isn’t always true. As a small business IT consultant, I’m often asked if small business owners need to pay the same attention to IT as big businesses do. The short answer is no, but they do need to understand the basics of what’s going on behind the scenes. This small business IT support guide will help you learn how to keep your business connected and running smoothly, even if you don’t have any tech experience at all.
Small business owners spend an average of nine hours every week working on their businesses. Their time could be spent doing other tasks, like actually running their businesses. However, it is important to make sure they have access to the technology they need to run the day to day operations. For many small business owners, that means having good IT support available to keep things running smoothly and efficiently behind the scenes.
It’s hard enough managing your own business but when you factor in the technology that powers it, it can be a lot to handle. With the help of an IT support provider, however, you can focus on what matters most – your company. Here are a few ways that IT support for small business will help you run your business efficiently and keep it connected.
Start with figuring out the best solution for you
1) Learn more about what IT technical support options are available so that you can find one that suits your needs
2) Meet with potential providers who have experience in this area
3) Gather quotes from several service providers
4) Compare them to see which option is best for your business
There are many factors to consider when choosing IT technical support services; such as, hardware compatibility, vendor reputation, number of users supported and maintenance fees.
For a small business, it is even more important because you may be the only technical person on staff. What happens if your computer crashes or there’s some kind of data loss? You could be stuck without an internet connection, email access and a host of other resources necessary for running your company. So what can you do to minimize the risks? Follow these tips and make sure your small business always has it support technical in its corner.
#1 – Invest in Backup Solutions
When you’re managing all of your company’s IT support, it’s important that you have reliable backup solutions for everything. Most importantly, this will help mitigate any data losses from a crash, but it will also give you peace of mind when it comes to the security of your company’s sensitive information. Make sure everyone who uses your computers understands how backups work and knows how often they should take a backup (ideally daily).
#2 – Find Affordable IT Support
If you’re not able to invest in full-time employees for your IT support, find affordable options like remote help desk services or managed IT providers. Not only will this help save money up front (since they charge by the hour instead of per project), but they’ll also be available when you need them most since they’re not full-time employees. Plus, you get more than just IT support with a managed service provider. They’ll monitor your network for any potential threats, provide regular tune-ups and offer specialized tech training as well.
#3 – Get Tech Savvy Employees
It is crucial to hire a technical support specialist as a member of your team. This person needs to be tech savvy as well as understand the importance of backing up your systems. Ideally this person would be the one doing backups so that their skillset overlaps with yours too. And if possible hire someone who has some experience in programming or software development as well so they can update systems and implement new technologies when needed.
Expert IT support services make up for a lot of what small businesses lack, whether it be staffing or skills. Having someone on call who is available 24/7 will help you feel more confident in your ability to manage any potential issue that may arise and reduce the risk of downtime. A knowledgeable IT support team can keep your software current so you never miss out on cool new features or fixes. They also monitor servers so that if anything goes wrong, they’re right there to fix it before you even notice! Finally, their remote monitoring capabilities allow them to see what needs updating before the problem arises which reduces downtime and prevents issues from happening in the first place.
Beyond your basic internet and phone connections, your small business might need additional IT support technical, even if you don’t have a staff of in-house employees. For example, your computer might not be able to handle the number of users on your system or you may need a network server. In either of these cases, it’s important for you to get in touch with an IT support company as soon as possible so they can help you resolve any problems before they have a negative impact on your business.
